Wichita eagle., 1887-11-09


projecting appendages in which Paddy
| tried to deposit the grain when told to
/ feed the mule corn in the ear" | have
not yet taken my initial ride on one of
/ the ouadrupeds, time enough when the
| exigencieS of the situation make it i'm
perative.
/ al the cattle have seen thus far are
! the domesticated buffalo, and it was a
novel sight to see large numbers of
them taking refuge from the
! flies in the muddy waters of the canal,
where often nothing was visible of them
| but their muzzle and peculiar-shaped
! horns. The butter we were served with
for breakfast was buffalo butterfly any
other name it would smell as rank. 1t
is a fortunate circumstance for us that
! custom has decreed its usage at but one
meal day. The fluid that Is intended
| TO whiten the coffee is drawn from the
same source. Chalk and water would be
an admirable substitute for it, but as it is
permitted to offend our stomachs but
once a day. we can initiate on reduced
scale the woman who said she was not
overly fond of beer, but she guessed she
could worry down quart or two Of 1t.
We laid by in the heat OF the
day, and towards evening followed
our Arabian guide. who speaks five Ian
! guages, to the humber portions of the
! city where the baZarS are located. here
/ the streets are crowded, dirty and filthy,
! and one gets true conception of oriental
/ life from business standpoint. The
stalls are rarely larger than Sx1O feet
and here the barter and sale and the var
/ ious trades and occupations of life are
| casried on. Separate quarters are as
signed to the different nationalities but
could see but little difference IN the
methods pursued by each. The work OF
artizans is performed in every IN
stance in sitting posture, generally on
! the floor. 1t looked little odd to see
! timers, harness mixers and workers in
/ hard wood. as WI as in iron,
working away diligently in such an at
/ titude, but their forefathers have done
| the same from time, immemorial, and
orientals are bOurbors if they are any
! thing. They neither forget nor learn.
We expected to pick up some triileS to
add to our accumulations OF bric-a-brac,
! but could find nothing of distinctive
/ feature confined only to the limits of
/ Alexander. Now in the Swiss and 1tal-
/ ian cities specialties in the line of handi-
/ Graph not duplicated elsewhere were
/ always to be found. For instance at
/ Geneva, they make specially Of man
ufacturing by hand tilagree silver and
gold articles of virtu. In a certain por-
ton of the city nothing else is scarcely
carried on, except what pertains
to this branch of industry, and
the productions are exhibited in
the most tempting manner rarely
failing to victimize the tourist, to
which my purse can bear the diminished
weight of its testimony.
! But there is branch of industry fol-
! lowed in Alexandria. which in financial
and commercial Importance, assumes far
/ greater proportions than the production
OF trinkets or of such articles that pander
to the taste Of wealth and refinement
only, as conducted in the European
/ cities. | allude to the manufacture of
/ tobacco into cigars and cigarettes, but
principally the latter. Onmy first arri-
val in Europe | was impressed with
the almost total abstinence of men
from the use Of chewing tobacco. In all
my rambles thus far 1 have
no recOllectiontion of ever seeing
an indivil lual, unless he was an American
eiecting a stream of the dark liquid from
his mouth. except one persona boat
man at Folkestone. Smoking is largely
the practice everywhere, but here it is
the universal custom and not confined to
the lords of creation. Tobacco is the
| open sesame that admits the government
of the earth to the gold and silver treas
ures of the people. 1t is the lamp of
Aladdin that reuqires but the touch of
power, and the magic word of law. to
! ill the Golfers of nations treasury. 1t
is a cloud by day and a pillar
of fire by night to lead misguided
nations from the desert of bankruptcy
into the delectahla state of s)lvency.
1t was baleful genii who stretched
out his hands to the north and south of
our land and whispered, Here are the
sinews of war: fight on" America. En-
gland. France Germany, Italy and Egypt,
all involved in eXhausting wars within
the last twenty-five years. are discharg
ing their war debt largely by the reve-
nues received from the sale Of the weed.
In all the foreign countries named the
customs law is more rigidly enforced
against tobacco than any other commod-
ity. The tariff. except in England, is
high, and in France, Germany and
Italy the government has the mon
opoly of its sale. 1t is a
difficult matter to procure a good cigar
anywhere, and the smoking tobacco is
simply vile. Cabbage is largely produc
ed ii the countries named. / believe
cabbage and tobacco have an affinity for
each other. The latter fear, fell into
bad company. and must bear the appro-
brium that attaches from the association
with the impure. Egypt imports the leaf
in large quantities from Turkey. The
import duty is low. from ten to fifteen
per cent. and the best cigarettes in the
world, of pure Turkish leaf. are manu-
factured here eXtcnsively-principally by
the Greek residents. The best quality
retail at from eighty cents to one dollar
and sixty cents per hundred. In Naples
a friend of mine paid four dollars hum
dred for what would cost one dollar
here.
With regard to works of art Alexan-
der is about nil. There is only one piece
of statuary that is public property. and
that is the equestrian statue of Moham-
met Ali. which stands in the Place Me-
hernet Ali. near the scene Of the princi-
pal destruction in 1892 Much opposi-
ton was encountered fsom the moslem
leaders when it was proposed to erect it,
as the Mohammedan religion strictly for
bids such representations of the human
form. However. the doctors were
Modified when it was placed in position
with the face toward Mecca. The statue
is a bronze. sixteen feet high. and staAds
on pedestal of Tuscan marble twenty
feet IN height.
Perhaps it would be unfair to close this
article on Alexandra. without inquiring
somewhat into its ancient history It
,,-n.. Lid .,r1- ln,- ilnrnnder rhc l.rcn-